BC Bears go undefeated to claim 2022 U19 Canadian Rugby Championship crown

08/08/2022

Canadian Rugby Championship

The Men’s Under-19 Canadian Rugby Championship returned to the University of Guelph last week from July 31 – August 6 following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

August 8, 2022 (Guelph, Ontario) – The Men’s Under-19 Canadian Rugby Championship returned to the University of Guelph last week from July 31 – August 6 following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This year’s tournament saw regional representative sides the BC Bears, Ontario Blues, Alberta Wolfpack, Atlantic Rock and Quebec gather to decide the 2022 national championship.

After earning decisive victories in their opening two games of the competition, the BC Bears U19 Men’s team found themselves in the championship-deciding game against the Ontario Blues on Thursday August 4. With the Blues also claiming victory in their first two games of the tournament, the two sides were poised to offer a thrilling match to decide who took home the national title.

Both teams managed to keep their opponent from crossing their goal line for the majority of the game’s opening half. However, thanks to the boot of the Bears’ Owain Cormack, BC enjoyed a slim lead of 6-3 advantage after an exchange of penalty kicks in the first 30-minutes of the match.

Just before the conclusion of the first half, the Bears capitalized off a quick scrum to score the game’s opening try. Alastair Marshall touched the ball down for BC, giving his squad a 10-point lead following a successful conversion by Cormack to make it 13-3 headed to the final 40 minutes.

In the second half, the Blues took full advantage of their opportunity to get themselves back into the game after a yellow card was handed out to BC’s Liam Poulton in the 49th minute. Ontario scored to make it 13-10 but that was as close as the Blues came. The Bears added their second try of the match in the 70th minute before Cormack added his third and fourth penalty kicks as time wound down. BC improved their record to 3-0 with the 26-10 victory over Ontario, sealing the championship for representative side from British Columbia.

Prior to the title-deciding game between BC and Ontario, the Bears claimed victory over the Alberta Wolfpack 29-3 and the Atlantic Rock 39-15 while the Blues defeated Alberta in convincing fashion, 49-7, before knocking off Quebec 42-24.

Both teams finished their tournaments with a win as BC won over Quebec 27-10 on the final day of competition, going undefeated in the tournament. Earlier in the day Ontario edged the Atlantic Rock 13-11 to secure the second-place finish. The Rock recorded wins over Quebec and the Wolfpack throughout the championship to secure the bronze medal.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Sunday July 31st

Atlantic Rock 38 vs. Quebec 5
BC Bears 29 vs. Alberta Wolfpack 3

Monday August 1st

Ontario Blues 49 vs. Alberta Wolfpack 7
BC Bears 39 vs. Atlantic Rock 15

Tuesday August 2nd

Ontario Blues 42 vs. Quebec 24

Wednesday August 3rd

Atlantic Rock 34 vs. Alberta Wolfpack 3

Thursday August 4th

BC Bears 26 vs. Ontario Blues 10

Friday August 5th